Families -- Fiction; Girls -- Conduct of life -- Fiction; Young women -- Conduct of life -- Fiction
But Sally thought that they had better get dressed, and said so. When
Sally said things in that way, there was no appeal, and Charlie
submitted, with not more objection than would have been expected, to a
rapid sponge; for it had not occurred to Sally, the night before, to
find out about a bathtub. It might very well be that the house had
been built before the era of bathtubs and that no such useless
encumbrance had been added. Cousin Martha herself solved that
difficulty for her. There was a gentle tap at her door.
"Sally," called Cousin Martha's voice, "here is your hot water. Do you
know about the tub?"
"No," answered Sally, opening the door; "Charlie's had his bath,
Cousin Martha, as good a one as I could give him, but I haven't."
"You didn't splash water over the floor, did you?" Cousin Martha asked
anxiously, scrutinizing the floor for any signs of wetting.
"I tried not to," Sally replied. "It's hardly light enough to make
sure."
Miss Hazen had disappeared into Charlie's room and now reappeared
bringing a tub. It was a large shallow pan, a sort of glorified milk
pan, and might have been made of cast iron, judging from the way Miss
Hazen carried it. It was not of cast iron, but of tin; the kind of tin
that cannot be got in these days, even for love.
"There!" said she, setting it down.
"Thank you, Cousin Martha. It will be nice to have that. But you don't
need to bring us hot water. We don't use it."
"Why, Sally!" Cousin Martha cried in a horrified voice. "You don't
bathe in cold water!" Sally nodded. "Not tempered at all?"
"Just cold water," Sally responded.
"But it will be very cold, later on," remonstrated Cousin Martha. "The
water sometimes freezes in the pitcher."
Sally chuckled. "Long as it doesn't freeze solid it's all right. I
like it very cold. It prickles and stings me all over. We like it
cold, don't we, Charlie?"
Charlie grunted. He did not seem enthusiastic. Miss Hazen sighed as
she shut the door.
Breakfast was over, Uncle John had gone, and things had pretty well
settled down for the day, and it still seemed very early to Sally. She
and Charlie wandered in the yard before eight o'clock. That yard
seemed very restricted. In the first place, it was bounded on every
side except the front by a high wooden fence. The top of the fence was
just about level with the top of Sally's head, so that she couldn't
see over it without jumping up or climbing on something. Sally had
thought of climbing, of course; but, first, she had to get Charlie
acquainted with the yard, so that he would stay down contentedly.
Charlie had not yet developed any particular aptitude for climbing
trees.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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